Inescapable
by dagnytheartist
Summary: Alternate ending to "The Void." A child Wander is looking for his mother, and on the way he bumps into two people who need to find each other.
1. an old man

One day in Wanderville, a little Wander was -what else -walking around. He was looking for his mama, who he had lost somewhere in the crazy world they live in.

He lives in a universe with all Wanders. Litterally. His name was Wander, and so was his mom's. Everybody was Wander -boy or girl, brunette or blond or even bald! Wanders everywhere.

This little Wander happened to be clumsy. He bumped into people a lot -even though there wasn't many people to bump into. Just his luck, he guessed. But he liked people -he was a friendly kid -so this was good luck for him. And who should he bump into but an old man!

"Hello!" He squeaked. His eyes were bright and ready to take whatever the old man would tell him to heart. He loved old Wanders, for they had wisdom that he wouldn't have for a while. So obviously this one had something good to tell him, right?

Except, the old man looked sad and sleepy. He wasn't running around or playing, but just leaning with his face against a rock. His hat was droopy and he wouldn't even look at who bumped into him. He was NOT like any Wander that the kid had ever seen. The kid wondered why the old man would be sad, but decided he should make it his duty to help his fellow grandpa feel better.

"What's makin' you so sad?" asked the little Wander.

The old Wander looked at the child. "Oh, I don't wanna bother you with my troubles."

"No no, sir! I want to help you! What's got you down?"

"Well, if you're so sure..." The old Wander turned around to face the child. He had a big gray beard, bags under his eyes, and his face looked even sadder than the kid was expecting. "I know you can't help much, but I need something for a friend and it's not something I can get."

"Oh, I can get it for you!" The young Wander declared. "I'll just ask the creator!"

"No," the old man put a hand to stop the kid from walking away. "Don't bother."

"Why not?" The kid asked. "The creator can make anything appear! He-"

"I know." The old Wander interrupted. "But this is too big of a job even for me."

"Huh?" The kid asked. It took a second for the words to sink in. "Wait, are YOU the creator?"

The old Wander sighed. "Yep."

The kid gasped. "That's awesome! So you can make anything appear?!"

"Sure can." To prove this, the old Wander made a red elephant appear. The elephant picked up the kid and put him on it's back, and spewed confetti out of it's horn. The young Wander smiled and laughed.

"Do you feel better?" The old Wander asked.

"Do I- _Do I _feel better?" The kid gave the old Wander a strange look. "I was already fine!_ You_ need to feel better!"

"Trust me," The old Wander put a hand in the air. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, really, but nothing is going to work. There is nothing in the world that can make Sylvia happy again."

"Sylvia?" The young Wander jumped off the elephant. "Who's that?"

The old Wander's eyes widened. Did he mention Sylvia? He hadn't even thought about Sylvia in a long time, ever since he gave up on the hopeless notion that they could escape this nightmare. What a horrible person he was -thinking so much about his own misery he forgot about Sylvia. He leaned against his rock again and started bawling.

"I didn't mean to-" the kid tried to explain. He was really guilty, but also really confused. "But- I don't-"

He tried everything to cheer the old man up. He took out a pack of balloons and made them into animals. He danced around, sang songs... basically anything old Wander himself would have done to cheer someone else up. But nothing was happening, except that the old man's sobs got louder and then quieter. They stopped at one point, then continued, then stopped. But it was clear to the boy that nothing he was doing was going to make things better.

Reluctantly, he turned around and was about to go home. But first, he thought he should make his walk a little longer. And so, he walked in the opposite direction -passed the old Wander- and into the nothingness that was the void.


	2. the past

Many things were imagined.

Fun things. Creative things.

Wander people were imagined. But they were never boring-they had families and stories. They went about living lives -growing, exploring.

_Did you hear what one Wander lady said the other day? _

_I hear Wander and Wander are finally getting married. They were meant for each other._

_Little Wander Jr. went missing, please find him. I think he got lost somewhere. His mother Wander is worried sick._

They all loved their creator Wander, who eventually grew into an old man. But even though their creator Wander loved them back, there was nothing that could be done about that frown of his. Most of the Wanders left him alone after they gave up trying to make him happier. And also because they had their lives to live.

To Wander, this was nothing but an empty void.

Don't think he never tried to create different people, though.

One time, in a burst of genius, he thought he could restore everything if he just believed he could. If he imagined Sylvia, the Bingledops, Lord Hater and his army of watchdogs, all of the friends he ever met -he could bring everything back to normal.

But it wasn't normal. They said exactly the same things that he thought they would, but it was all memories. They spoke like scripts and never deviated. Lord Hater captured the same three planets every hour.

He never got around to making a Sylvia. The thought of Sylvia made him cry.

So he erased the worlds from his memories. Because what was the point?

They were better off as memories.


	3. a stranger

The little Wander had been walking for two days. Thankfully, none of the other Wanders (except for the creator) need to eat to survive, but the little Wander was getting tired. His feet were smelling awful too. And he felt guilty when he remembered that his family would be worried about him.

For once in his life, the little Wander felt sad. He wished so desperately that he could help the old Wander -the creator of everything the boy has ever known. For once in his life he started thinking about some very hard questions. How could someone have the ability to create everything they want, but still be unhappy? And who the heck was-

He found that he bumped into someone again. "Oh, pardon me... uh..." He stared at the strange creature he bumped into. It was unlike anyone he had ever seen. Literally everybody he had ever seen was a Wander -in some form or another, or maybe a funny animal, but he had never seen this creature -a non-Wander.

"Watch it!" The creature turned around -eyes looking straight into his.

"Sorry!" The little Wander squeaked. "Ma'am?"

"What are you doing here anyway?" The creature asked. She looked to the opposite direction the kid was coming from, where there were splashes of color and random things everywhere. If one looked closely, they could see the other Wanders, but they were so far away they looked like tiny orange blobs. "Shouldn't you be over there?"

"I got lost!" The little Wander exclaimed. He reached out his hand. "My name is Wander!"

She looked down at his hand, but didn't even lift her own. "That figures." She muttered.

"What's your name?"

"Not Wander." She was still muttering. "Could you just go away and leave me alone?!"

Go away and leave me alone? The child thought. That was the strangest request he had ever heard. Maybe he was just misunderstanding the Not Wander. "Are you Sylvia?"

Sylvia's eyes widened. "H-how did you know that?!"

"The creator told me!"

"The creator?!" Now Sylvia was interested. "You mean Wander? Like, the real Wander?! Where is he?!"

"He's back there." The kid pointed. But he had walked so far that he was pointing at a blob (one that probably wasn't the old man). "Waaaaaaaaay back there. Hey! I know! We should go get him!"

"I don't know..." Sylvia looked worried. "A roadtrip sounds fun, to be honest, but I don't think he'll be happy to see me."

"Why not?"

"Because-" She looked closely at the kid. His eyes were wide, and he had a growing grin on his face. He was getting ready for a story -she could feel it. It had been forever since she could talk to anyone besides herself. Oh, she had to tell him, right? She sat down and groaned. "Fine, storytime."

"Yay!" The little Wander clapped his hands together.


	4. separation

_Wander looked at the other Wanders he had created and sighed, putting his head down. Slowly, all the Wanders fell over like dominoes until they were gone. He saw his friend, his REAL friend Sylvia, walking away from him hopelessly. This wasn't right._

_"Wait! Sylvia!" Wander ran back to his best friend. "I'm sorry! I shoulda realized -you wanting to go home is more important than anything."_

_Sylvia smiled. "I knew you'd figure it out."_

_"So let's go home!" He imagined a door, and Sylvia turned the doorknob. _

_There was nothing on the other side._

_"Wander!" She slammed it shut. "I should have known!"_

_"B-" Wander looked at the door confused. "I thought-"_

_"What?! You thought it would be fun to joke around with me some more?! All that torture with the puppets and the millions of yous wasn't enough?!"_

_"But I didn't mean to!" Wander whined. He sounded like a little kid. "I'll try again!" He made another door appear, and the same thing happened -nothing. Sylvia got frustrated. "This isn't funny!"_

_"I'm not doing this!" Wander tried closing and opening the door again. And again. And again._

_And again._

_And again._

_"Goodbye Wander." Sylvia walked further away. _

_"No -no -no!" Wander kept opening and closing and opening and closing. "Please, door, Sylvia wants to go home!" He whispered in tears "Now I want to go home!"_

_Nothing._


	5. jellyfish pie

"And the whole flarfin planet was saved, thanks to a stupid sock! I still don't know how that even-"

Sylvia shared the memories of their adventures. The little Wander sat on her back, smiling and laughing at every word she said.

He could somehow picture it all. It sounded like so much fun! Planet hopping -meeting new friends -seeing new sights.

He also wondered why Sylvia couldn't explain a concept called "organization" to him. It sounded so new and foreign. But she couldn't compare it to anything in the world they were traveling in. Wanders were running around, spinning in circles, running through pathways. There was never a meaning to it all.

"Kid, if we don't find Wander in the next few minutes, I think I'm going to go insane."

"HELLO!" After Sylvia spoke, it seemed like every Wander within a five foot radius greeted her at the same time. Sylvia gasped. Little Wander, being the friendly child he was, said hello back and waved with matching enthusiasm.

"Yeah -um, we're looking for Wander... the old man?"

"The creator," the child Wander corrected.

"Ohhhhh" the other Wanders replied. "The creator is a few feet yonder," one Wander said, pointing.

"Thanks," Sylvia muttered, then whispered "Is this place always so creepy?" in the child's ear.

"We call it 'friendly,'" was the response.

"Jellyfish pie?" Sylvia asked when they found a restaurant.

"I know, right? Yuck!" little Wander said. "But this has always been here."

"No, I like jellyfish pie!" Sylvia ran inside and was going to order one -but it was brought to her. From the ceiling.

"This is great!" She said after taking a bite.

The little Wander wondered if this was the reason why this restaurant was always here.


	6. adventure on a train

"_There _he is!" Sylvia said at last. She could see him in the distance, with his body laying against a rock. "Wander!" Sylvia waved, and jumped, but he didn't move. She looked at the child Wander. "Why isn't he turning around?!"

"Doesn't see you, I guess."

They walked closer. As they moved, however, Sylvia began to feel a sense of uneasiness swarm over her. "I'm starting to think this is a bad idea." She whispered to the child on her back.

"Go!" little Wander told her. "I think he'll be really happy to see you again!"

"Really?" Sylvia asked. "I acted like a real jerk the last time."

"But he loves you," the little Wander replied. "He missed you."

"Okay." Sylvia continued, but it was slower than before -when they were more enthusiastic about meeting him. Actually, the little Wander was still enthusiastic. He couldn't wait to see their reactions.

The old Wander turned around when he heard the footsteps. Eyes widened, he stared at Sylvia like he didn't really believe she was there.

"Hi," Sylvia said awkwardly.

"Hi," Wander responded simply.

A few seconds of silence passed until little Wander broke the tension with "You two should hug already!"

"Heh, alright" Wander said, smiling a little, before walking over to hug Sylvia. She returned the hug, and the two started talking.

After explaining how little Wander found her and everything, Sylvia apologized for abandoning Wander for all this time.

"No no it's my fault." Wander said. "I don't remember why we were fighting, but I'm certain it was my fault."

Sylvia sighed. "Well, you couldn't get the door to work. But now I know you weren't doing it on purpose. Either way, I'm sorry for abandoning you for all those years."

Wander looked puzzled. "All those years?"

"Yeah."

"It's only been a day."

"WHAT?!" Sylvia yelled. "THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"

"No, really!" Wander pushed back some fur on his arm, to reveal he was wearing a fancy watch. It had the hour, minute, _and _the day.

"Cool!" Little Wander said.

"Oh right." Sylvia remembered when he got that watch. But she still couldn't believe it had only been a day. It felt like years had passed since they were first trapped in here. She pulled his beard. It came right off like it was fake.

"So are we gonna have adventures with this little guy?" real Wander asked, pointing to little Wander.

"Yes!" Little Wander answered.

"No." Sylvia responded. "Does he have parents or something?"

Wander ignored her and kneeled down to little Wander's height. "Come on buddy! You wanna take a train home?"

"Yeah!" Little Wander yelled.

"Here we go!" Wander imagined a train, and it appeared. He jumped on, followed by little Wander and Sylvia, and they were about to take off when Wander jumped off. "Almost forgot the hat!" He said, going back to the rock.

Sylvia watched. The hat? The hat. It could give them everything they needed. What they needed most was a way out of there.

She should have known!

"Wander!" She yelled to him from the distance.

"What is it Sylvia?!" He yelled back.

Then she remembered the kid and the train. They could stay a little longer. Bring the kid back. Then go home. "It can wait!"


End file.
